scott mackay

Rhode Island motorists will pay a penny more per gallon of gas, beginning tomorrow (July 1), under tax changes announced by the Rhode Island Department of Revenue.

The gas tax hike was due to an inflation indexing formula that the General Assembly approved in 2014.

Cigarette smokers will be paying an additional 25-cents per pack in Rhode Island taxes beginning August 1 under the budget for fiscal year 2016 approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Gina Raimondo.

The flags and bunting adorn the handsome colonials and Greek Revivals along Hope Street, the hydrangeas are blooming and a fresh stripe of red, white and blue has been painted along the July 4th parade route downtown.

The parking lot at the Lobster Pot was clogged yesterday, the Celtic music session at Aidan’s was standing-room only and Independence Park was jammed with revelers listening to a Jimmy Buffet cover band.

Congrats to Emma Dickson of Providence and Brown University, who has been named a White House summer intern, according to a White House statement. Dickson is a former intern at Rhode Island Public Radio and also served as an intern at former Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s press office.

Other Brown students named to the prestigious program are Sydney Menzin of Locust Valley, N.Y., and Benjamin Miller-Gootnick of Washington, D.C.

Dave Barber, a familiar face at the Statehouse and reporter for Capitol Television, is hospitalized in his home state of Michigan after suffering a stroke and a heart attack, according to a Michigan newspaper.

Barber, 60, a former radio talk show host in Michigan and Rhode Island, was visiting Flint when he apparently choked while eating, blocking his airway and triggering other medical issues.

Barber is a patient at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Michigan and is in a medically induced coma, according to his brother Larry Barber.

President Obama scored a victory for his trade plan today when the U.S. Senate approved a measure that would give the president the authority to negotiate international deals, but he did it without help from Rhode Island two Democratic senators, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse.

Reed and Whitehouse were on the losing end of a 60 to 37 Senate vote. Both Rhode Islanders cited concerns that trade deals hurt American workers. Thirteen Democrats joined with 47 Republicans to push the trade pact to a final vote, which is likely to occur tomorrow.

The high cost of government in Rhode Island is once again in the forefront, as voters in Coventry dissolve the Coventry Fire District. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay asks if this can be a spur for consolidation in our tiny state.

In a referendum Coventry voters resoundingly refused to give any more of their property taxes to the stanch the river of red ink drowning the Coventry Fire District. They turned thumbs down on the fire district even though it provides fire and emergency services to the most densely populated part of the community..

Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is gaining traction against front-runner Hillary Clinton in the kickoff presidential primary state of New Hampshire, while former Rhode Island senator and governor Lincoln Chafee is still an asterisk, according to a new public opinion survey of Democratic voters.

If U.S. senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrats both, are searching for a fine candidate for the opening on U.S. District Court in Providence, federal magistrate Patricia Sullivan whould get top consideration.

Sullivan has the legal, academic and community service qualifications necessary for a federal judge. Sources tell Rhode Island Public Radio that she has applied for the post, which is vacant due to the retirement of U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi.

So Lincoln Chafee has become the first Rhode Islander to seek a major party nomination for president. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay on why Chafee must step up his game quickly to be a factor in the 2016 presidential sweepstakes.

Love him or hate him, you have to acknowledge that Chafee is a politician of conviction and deeply held views about what’s wrong with the country. Throughout his long career in Rhode Island politics, most honest voters would agree Chafee was on the right side of many issues.

Another day in Providence, another desultory meeting on the plan to move the Pawtucket Red Sox from McCoy Stadium to a new ballpark to be built on the capital city’s downtown waterfront.

Today’s meeting featured Pat O’Conner, president and CEO of Minor League Baseball, who spoke about the finances of minor league stadiums around the nation at a meeting with reporters, labor leaders and a small group of state lawmakers at the offices of the Locke Lord LLC law firm.

Steve Nardelli, executive director of the R.I. League of Charter Schools, is retiring at the end of June. His post will be assumed by Timothy Groves, former development officer at the R.I. Foundation.

Nardelli has had a long career in Rhode Island education circles, serving as a public school teacher and coach. He was executive director of legislative relations at the Rhode Island Department of Education, where he carved a reputation as an effective Statehouse lobbyist.

The annual Red Bandana awards event, which honors the legacy of social activist and journalist Richard Walton, drew a huge crowd yesterday to Nick-a-Nees in Providence’s Jewelry District for an afternoon of music, fellowship and honors.

Winners of the Red Bandana awards this year were given to Providence College Professor Eric Hirsh for his work with the homeless and to the workers at the Renaissance Hotel who have been organizing for a union.

This story is part of our series “Rising Tide” about how – or whether - Rhode Islanders are emerging from the deepest economic recession since the 1930s. The question we’re asking is: Does a rising tide really lift all boats, or are some Rhode Islanders still being left behind?

Bernie Sanders, Vermont’s left-leaning independent U.S. Senator, is launching his long shot Democratic nomination presidential campaign next Tuesday (May 26th) with a rally along the Lake Champlain waterfront in his home city of Burlington, where his political career began in earnest with his 1981 upset election in the mayor’s race.

Sanders event will take place at 5 p.m. at Waterfront Park, with a rain venue of Memorial Auditorium a few blacks away on Main Street. Free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream will be served.